Senior Quotes: What is Really Happening?

The 2017-2018 Kennesaw Mountain High School yearbook will not include senior quotes. This policy, now in place at several Cobb County high schools, was made following administrative concerns of publishing inappropriate, covert messages without the yearbook staff’s knowledge.

Mrs. Hoover, the yearbook teacher and supervisor at KMHS, acknowledges the nostalgia of senior quotes but wishes to revive an arguably outdated tradition with the incorporation of senior baby pictures.

“Changing from incorporating senior baby photos instead of senior quotes was not a decision made lightly. The countless hours spent reviewing quotes to decipher the ‘double meanings’ took away from the joy of senior quotes. Senior quotes are actually very outdated and we look forward to incorporating more creative ideas! As we are making the book chronological (different than we have in the past), we are hoping to cover more of the school’s activities and showcase the students’ voices in a different manner,” Hoover said.

Though the yearbook team will continue to enforce the decision, the school’s senior quote tradition will not disappear. Kennesaw Mountain’s school newspaper, The Mustang Messenger, will publish senior quotes in its spring edition and will be accepting submissions at a later date.

While the relocation of the senior quotes to The Mustang Messenger will continue the tradition, many students still feel as though the student body’s voice was not taken into consideration during the decision process.

“While they will be displayed in the newspaper, it isn’t quite the same. What I don’t understand is why there has been no response to the student body’s input. Isn’t the yearbook for the students -and primarily seniors?… hopefully in the future students will have more say in the product they will ultimately consume,” said a KMHS senior.

Administration continues to back their decision, and hopes for the students to support the yearbook staff in their work.

“Ms. Hoover has done an outstanding job as yearbook supervisor. We support her efforts in this role,” KMHS principal, Dr. Trachtenbroit, stated in an email correspondence.

New possibilities for seniors are on the horizon, from the relocation of senior quotes to the inclusion of modern features in the yearbook, but the tension remains high surrounding student-administration communication.

“Taking senior quotes out of the yearbook is the same as filtering media and denying culture…This [decision] promotes rebellious attitudes in the student body. Admin is taking multiple steps this year to filter teenage culture, but that gives no one the right to viciously go after them. That only perpetuates the problem by showing them the immaturity they already see,” said senior, Demi Amodeo.